When it comes to NLG, the question of build versus buy is an easy one to answer. Here’s why you shouldn’t attempt to build your own NLG platform:

1) You would start out with an enormous development deficit that would be impossible to close.

Arria has already invested many millions of dollars over many years in the creation of its world-class NLG technology. We maintain a team of expert software developers solely dedicated to improving our platform in perpetuity. With a track record of regular advances, we are constantly delivering on our client-directed product roadmap. Unlike in-house IT departments, we have no other development priorities to distract us from constant NLG innovation.

2) You would incur a perpetual expense that far exceeds the cost of licensing Arria’s NLG platform.

There is no finish line in NLG development. Committing to developing and supporting an NLG platform in-house would require a dedicated staff of FTEs forever. By contrast, the cost of licensing Arria is a fraction of a single FTE.

3) You won’t have the advantage of Arria NLG’s in-house computational linguistic expertise.

Arria’s NLG platform embodies sophisticated principles of computational linguistics, presented as selectable functions within the user interface. Our chief scientists, Drs. Yaji Sripada and Ehud Reiter, are world renowned experts who have made NLG their life’s work. Reiter literally wrote ‘the book’ on NLG: ‘Building Natural Language Generation Systems,’ published by Cambridge University Press in 2000, is among the first to describe the field. Without the guidance of the best minds in NLG, your developers are likely to make mistakes that will delay your project.

4) The combination of development deficit, competing priorities, and lack of expertise guarantees failure, but only after significant expenditure of time and money.

Unfortunately, we have seen a handful of attempts to build NLG in-house. All fail to meet expectations, and most are simply never deployed. Meanwhile, the organization’s competition has moved forward with Arria, and is enjoying state-of-the art NLG technology. Inevitably, the former prospect comes back to Arria—usually with a different applications leader at the helm.

At the end of a test drive, no one decides to build the car. We understand that the resources, materials, and expertise are beyond us. Similarly, the build-versus-buy decision when it comes to Arria’s NLG platform is an easy one. Arria, today, is a platform that anyone can use, contains powerful analytical and linguistic capabilities, offers countless integration options and multiple deployment options, user-level security permissions, and flexible pricing. Arria’s NLG platform is ready for your company’s NLG systems today.